


dance partners

by grasslandgirl



Series: D20 Alphabet 2021 [2]
Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series)
Genre: D20 Alphabet challenge, F/M, is it ooc? shut up, look these fancy teens mean a lot to me okay, takes place in a vaguely junior/senior year au, they're at a ball/gala/fancy party, whatever they're on a quest and they have to go to a fancy party for vague plot reasons, who needs a beta? i don't need a beta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29670282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grasslandgirl/pseuds/grasslandgirl
Summary: "You ready?" Fabian asked, gently reaching out and letting his hand hover for a beat above her shoulder before it landed, giving her just enough time to lean away if she needed to. He was watching her, steady and careful, eyes shining in the dim lamplight of the lobby. His suit was tailored to perfection, of course, he’d probably been to a dozen of these things, probably grew up knowing exactly how to act and how to move gracefully through a crowd just like he did in battle and-god.Adaine needed to pull herself together. She didn’t have time to spiral about the fluttering electric uncertainty in her stomach when Fabian smiled at her, they were on amission.written for the Dimension 20 Alphabet Event, Day 2 (B, Ball)
Relationships: Adaine Abernant/Fabian Aramais Seacaster
Series: D20 Alphabet 2021 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2178603
Comments: 3
Kudos: 16





	dance partners

**Author's Note:**

> go check out the other works made for this event at [@dimension20alphabet](https://dimension20alphabet.tumblr.com/) on tumblr and stay tuned the rest of this month and into march for the rest of the submissions!!

This was a bad idea. This was all going to go to shit and Adaine was going to humiliate herself and Kristen was never going to stop teasing her about it. Her heart was pounding in her throat and her palms were sweating and she didn’t think Jawbone had ever given her advice about how to deal with an anxiety attack caused by a stupid  _ party. _

It was fine, Adaine was fine, she was going to pull herself together and walk in and it was going to be fine. It had to be. Everyone was counting on her- on  _ them. _

“You ready?” Fabian asked, gently reaching out and letting his hand hover for a beat above her shoulder before it landed, giving her just enough time to lean away if she needed to. He was watching her, steady and careful, eyes shining in the dim lamplight of the lobby. His suit was tailored to perfection, of course, he’d probably been to a dozen of these things, probably grew up knowing exactly how to act and how to move gracefully through a crowd just like he did in battle and-  _ god. _ Adaine needed to pull herself together. She didn’t have time to spiral about the fluttering electric uncertainty in her stomach when Fabian smiled at her, they were on a  _ mission. _

She nodded shakily, gritting her teeth into what was surely an unholy grimace-smile amalgamation, but to his credit, Fabian didn’t falter. He just smiled, effortless and confident, and tucked her arm into the crook of his elbow. “Spring break, I believe in you,” he whispered, and even though there wasn’t any bardic magic in his words- not yet, they might need it later in the night, Adaine was still hoarding her divination rolls for the day in case it all went sideways- they still comforted her. No matter what, they all had her back. Fabian wouldn’t leave her side, Kristen and Riz were on wait staff duty, Fig had somehow bluffed her way into the band, and Gorgug was waiting in the Hangvan out back for their getaway. They had a plan, one that Adaine and Riz had spent most of the last three days hashing out in precise detail, with failsafe on top of failsafe. 

“We’re going to be fine,” Adaine whispered back, half to Fabian, and half a reassurance to herself. 

_ “Obviously,” _ Fabian replied, and there was just enough freshman year Fabian arrogance in his tone to make Adaine laugh, sloughing the tension off of her shoulders. And then they were through the huge double doors at the front of the ballroom and-  _ wow. _

Adaine vaguely remembered going to a few galas with Aelwyn and her parents when she was young. Parties his father had to attend as the Elven ambassador to Solace, or ones held by the staff of Hudol College. They stopped going at some point- either that, or her parents had decided to stop taking her along. 

This gala wasn’t like anything she remembered as a child; there weren’t any stuck up Elves and academics murmuring to each other over wine. There were dozens of little tables, arranged in a rough semi circle around a crowded dance floor, with a small stage at the head where the band was playing. Tables of food and drink lined the walls and people milled around, laughing and talking loudly. Adaine curled her arm tighter around Fabian’s on instinct as the wall of music and laughter and people hit her. 

“Breathe,” he murmured, slowly moving them forward and out of the doorway, further into the ballroom, “you’ve got this Adaine, just think of it like a battlefield. What’s the next move?”  _ Okay, _ Adaine thought, grounding herself in Fabian’s warmth at her side,  _ that, I can do. _

And, if she was honest, it was probably a bad sign that Adaine was more comfortable with battlefields than she was with parties; but she’d have to hash that out with Jawbone later. 

They moved through the party; Fabian spinning them around the dancefloor so Adaine could get eyes on the other partygoers,  _ Messaging  _ Kristen and Riz about whether they’d seen anything, catching a help action from Fig at the front of the room on an investigation check. Eventually, she got eyes on all the pieces of jewelry they needed, and passed the information on to Riz via  _ Message, _ so he could steal them off of the marks when he got the opportunity.

And just like that, her part of the plan was done. They just had to wait to get the go ahead from Riz, and hang around as inconspicuous as possible in case something went wrong. 

“Do you think Gorgug is bored out there?” Fabian asked after Riz disappeared into the crowd with an awkward wink and thumbs up. “Like at least all of us in here have the party to keep us occupied, he’s just out there waiting.”

“I don’t think he minded it, he’s probably texting Zelda and listening to their mixtape. Anyway, there’s probably a reason  _ you  _ weren’t chosen to be the getaway driver Fabian.”

“Excuse you, Miss Abernant-O'Shaughnessy, I am an  _ outstanding  _ driver. I am just  _ also  _ the only one with any experience attending galas,  _ and  _ the only one who could get us tickets.” He sniffed, nose pointed to the sky and arms crossed over his chest. “So there.”

Adaine pursed her lips against the laughter bubbling up in her chest. “I don’t know,” she said, as casually as she could manage, “I think Gorgug could be very believable at a fancy party like this one.”

“Huh!” Fabian scoffed in mock outrage. “You really think Gorgug could pull off a suit like this? It’s real Baronesian linen!” 

Adaine couldn’t hold back her laughter anymore, leaning against Fabian’s shoulder helplessly giggling. “I don’t- I don’t know if-” she said in between stifled peals of laughter- “if Gorgug knows what Baronesian linen  _ is.” _ She leaned back, catching Fabian’s begrudging smile. “I don’t know if I know what Baronesian linen is, if I’m honest. Did you get it from the Gilded Coin?”

“Obviously,” Fabian said, “it's the only reputable clothier in Elmville, and I didn’t have time to have Mama send away for tailoring in Bastion City.” He glanced down at her- even in the pinchy high heels Aelwyn had given her to wear, he was still a head taller than her- a flash of insecurity in his eyes. “Anyway, I look great, right?” His tone was still light, like they were continuing the same teasing joke from before, but Adaine knew him better than that. She knew how Fabian worried about not being enough, how he hated asking for validation outright, even when he really needed it. Adaine knew those feelings from experience, more than anything.

On the outside, Adaine and Fabian couldn’t be more different; but even three years into friendship, Adaine was still learning new things about Fabian, about how secretly similar they were. It always made something warm bloom in her chest at the thought, like there were strings of connection pulling them together. 

“Yeah, Fabian,” Adaine said, pointedly earnest, “you look really great.”

“Oh.” Fabian paused, the tips of his half-Elven ears burning dark with a blush. “Oh, thank you, I mean, I know. I mean- uh. You look really good, too. Adaine.”

“Oh,” Adaine echoed. She glanced down at the dress she was wearing. She’d gotten it at the Gilded Coin, too, on a girl’s day shopping trip with Fig and Kristen and Aelwyn. (Fig had sent pictures to Fabian the entire time to make sure their choices were up to snuff.) It was pretty, she thought, floor length and pale pink and made of an impossibly light, petal-like material that fluttered around her as she moved. She would’ve been more comfortable, undoubtedly, in her usual jeans and jacket; but there was something… unsettling, in a good way, about how Fabian had grinned at her when she walked down the stairs at Mordred Manor in it that afternoon. Something unsettling in the way he was looking at her now. “Thank you,” Adaine said belatedly, relaxing abruptly that they’d been staring at each other in silence for a few seconds. “Uh, do we- should we…?”

“Let’s dance.” Fabian hesitated for a moment, still watching her with that look in his eye that made Adaine’s stomach twist in something like anxiety, but different. Like she was excited, instead of nervous. Hopeful. “Uh, let’s- on the dancefloor, so we can see-”

“Kristen and Fig, yeah, sure.” Fabian nodded, relieved, and took Adaine’s arm again in what was quickly becoming all too comfortable and familiar a position. 

The space in the middle of the ballroom was crowded, and Adaine swore once or twice she saw a glimpse of Riz, sliding through the shadows. Fabian placed his hand carefully one hip and took her other hand in his, and guided them in a slow kind of waltz. Adaine was careful not to step on his feet, she was pretty sure the heels Aelwyn had leant her were more weapons than they were shoes. 

“I haven’t done this a lot,” Adaine admitted after a few minutes of awkward silence. She was sure it was obvious, but even a conversation about her socially stilted childhood would be better than nothing at all, right?

“No, you’re a natural. Either that, or you have a very good dance partner.”

“Probably the second one,” Adaine muttered. 

Fabian smiled, half of his mouth quirking up in a roguish smirk Adaine was positive he’d practiced in the mirror. “Mama will be pleased to know that three years of dance lessons haven’t gone to waste.” He lifted the hand holding hers high as he pressed his hand against her waist, guiding her in a spin that caused her dress to flutter out around her like a flower. 

“I don’t think this is what your mother had in mind when she got you dance lessons.” Adaine glanced pointedly at the platform the band was playing on, where Fig was frowning down at the cello she was playing. “Undercover covert quests and all.”

“Actually, knowing Mama, she probably did have something like this in mind. She did enroll me in adventuring school, after all. The most important thing Mama always told me is that I should have a good dance partner.”

“Well,” Adaine smiled deprecating, “there’s always next time for that part at least.” Fabian frowned slightly as Adaine shrugged, glancing down again at her feet to make sure she wasn’t stepping on the train of her dress or Fabian’s shiny black dress shoes. His hand tightened on hers slightly, and Adaine swore as she glanced up, that Fabian pulled her a little closer as they danced. 

“What? You’re a wonderful partner, Adaine,” Fabian told her, confusion and frustration in the set of his brow. “You’re brilliant, and you’re powerful, and you’re beautiful.”

“Oh, um-”

“Sorry, I know we’re on a quest right now I just- you’re a really good partner, Adaine.” There was that feeling again. The excited-unsettled-electric-butterflies in her stomach feeling. “The  _ best. _ Or whatever,” Fabian deflected quickly, finally looking away from Adaine to look at the walls, the other dancers. If it were anyone else, Adaine would think maybe they were trying to brush her off, but this was  _ Fabian. _

So Adaine took a leap of faith. 

“I think you’re a  _ really good partner _ too,” she said carefully, tilting her head so she could catch his eye. “Just so you know.” She just prayed that for once in her life she picked up on subtext correctly.

“Oh,” Fabian breathed, eyes wide as the blush on the tips of his ears spread down his neck. 

“Oh?” 

“Adaine, would you want to- after the mission is over, after school some time, if you’re not busy with homework or whatever  _ nerd shit _ you’re doing- uh, get ice cream?” 

“Oh,” Adaine brightened, “yeah, yes. Ice cream. Yes.”

“Yes? Cool. Cool, yeah, awesome.” Fabian puffed his chest out a little, trying for the cocky bravado he’d worn like a shield back in freshman year, but it fell a little short from the way he couldn’t stop smiling at her. 

“Cool.” Adaine couldn’t stop smiling either. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr also at [@grasslandgirl](https://grasslandgirl.tumblr.com/) if you have any comments/thoughts, and my inbox is always open for prompts, especially if there's a certain letter/word/pairing you want to see for this event upcoming!! again, please go check out [@dimension20alphabet](https://dimension20alphabet.tumblr.com/) on tumblr and stay tuned for what i'm sure is going to be a great event!!


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